‘Pokémon’ Joins As Official Endorser For Sumo Wrestling
Image via Nihon Sumo Kyokai
Pokémon has long led the trend of creative collaborations, most recently through its partnership with Oreo, in which the rarest cookie received thousand-dollar bids.
The company even debuted a remarkable life-sized replica of its in-game bicycle, allowing aficionados to cruise around town just like their favorite video game character.
Now, in one of the quirkiest mashups yet, the Japanese franchise has announced it is teaming up with sumo wrestling to become tournaments’ official sponsor. Yup, Pokémon is partnering the sport’s official governing body, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai, to sponsor banners at upcoming competitions.
According to The Japan Times, kensho banners are carried around the wrestling ring before high-ranking matches began, with each fight seeing up to 50 versions, each representing prize money offered up by the corporation.
“One costs ¥62,000 (US$545) with ¥56,700 (US$499) going to the winner of the match and ¥5,300 (US$47) deducted for costs and fees,” the site explained.
This endeavor comes as part of Pokémon’s 25th anniversary celebrations, with the branded banners expected to be on display at a tournament next month in Fukuoka, as well as an upcoming bout in January next year.
Each banner will don a different design, for example, featuring particular games such as Pokémon Red and Green, or images of its most popular character, Pikachu. In total, the company will invest in 200 banners, as reported by Kotaku.
Additionally, the franchise will sponsor kensho-mawashi—ceremonial, embroidered garments worn by sumo wrestlers when they enter a ring. The apron-like piece often dons logos of corporate sponsors, though it appears that anime and manga-themed garbs have been worn before.
To up the ante even further, the referee at the event in January will put on a special getup as well, though not much has been revealed about that just yet. Imagine a life-sized Pokémon creature appearing in the ring to supervise the fight!
Image via Nihon Sumo Kyokai
[via Kotaku, images via Nihon Sumo Kyokai]
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